1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a personal manually-actuatable or activated safety restraint air bag shield.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inflatable restraining devices are well known for motor vehicles, but most of such devices are actually secured to such motor vehicle, and are automatically activated. Among those patents are the following: U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,457 patented Sep. 5, 1971 by A. Kob et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,468 patented May 5, 1981 by D. H. Suszko et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,627 patented Sep. 22, 1981 by R. J. Cumming et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,390 patented Oct. 2, 1984 by H. Scholz et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,236 patented Dec. 3, 1985 by H. J. Scholz et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,771 patented Jul. 23, 1991 by F. Miyauchi et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,408 patented Jan. 12, 1993 by F. Barrenscheen et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,361 patented May 25, 1993 by T. Satoh et al.
It will thus be observed that most of the air bag restraint systems are fixed to a motor vehicle, or are adapted to be fixed to a motor vehicle. One exception is U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,420 patented May 30, 1989 by V. M. Sankrithi et al, which provided an air bag equipped, child accommodating deployable air bag. The air bag included accident-sensing means and air bag inflation means. Forward, rearward, and sideward orientations of the child accommodating device were said to be possible, relative to the vehicle.
The objects of that patent, however were different from the objects of the present invention. Those objects were to provide a child accommodating device for a vehicle having the following characteristics: safe and comfortable accommodation for a child, while providing increased mobility of the child accommodated in non-accident conditions; automatical reconfiguration to restrain and protect the child within the device, in accident conditions; and automatical deployment of the air bag to protect a child in the event of a serious accident involving the vehicle.
Another exception was U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,191 patented Aug. 7, 1990 by P-U Putsch which provided a motor vehicle seat with a back rest and air bag assembly combined with a vehicle seat, for supporting a vehicle user. It included a back rest, a head rest, an area supporting the shoulders of the user, and having at least one forwardly projecting side wing in the area supporting the shoulders of the seat user, the side wing having an upper surface. The side wing included at least one recess positioned in the upper surface, in which an inflatable air bag was located. The air bag, in the inflated condition, formed a support laterally adjacent the head of the seat user. The air bag was housed in a recess provided in the extended wing or side portion of the seat when not inflated, so as to be hidden from view.
The principal object of that invention was different from the objects of the present invention, namely to create a vehicle seat that provided increased protection to the user from forces acting laterally to the vehicle in an accident, without inhibiting the necessary freedom of movement and vision of the user. Another object of that invention was to provide a vehicle seat having a back rest which includes an air bag for supporting the upper portion of the user's torso.
Yet another exception was U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,821 patented Jan. 15, 1991 by S. N. Kim et al, which provided a gas expansion type shock absorbing safety cloth for motorcycle drivers. The cloth included a shock absorbing tube, a gas regulator connected through gas conduits to the shock absorbing tube, and compressed gas storage and discharge devices connected to the gas regulator. An ignition controller included a trigger device connected through an electric wire and a pull string to the ignition controller. A connector was disposed intermediate between both the electric wire and the pull string in such a manner that it was separated upon applying of a pulling force exceeding a certain predetermined value. The connector was disposed between the trigger device and the gas storage and discharge device, thereby making it possible to pack the various components of the system into a small bag for carrying conveniently.